The
quiet was typical for the first week of May. New butterflies
are on the wing, but not in the numbers we'll see in a week
or two. Get ready! Soon there will be as many sightings in one
week as we have had all spring.

Also
typical for this time of year are the unusual sightings.
Single sightings were reported from 45 N in Michigan and -70
W in Massachusetts. What do you make of the pattern? Why would
a monarch be sighted in South Dakota before Iowa or Nebraska,
for example? List all of the reasons that you can imagine. And
what about the monarch sighted in Massachusetts?

Monarchs
have now been sighted in 24 states, including 3 new ones to
add to your Prediction
Chart.

Journal:
How do you explain the monarch
in Massachusetts?

It
was Mrs. Clare Walker Leslie — a renowned naturalist and author
— who saw the monarch in MA on April 26th.

"Please
explain to me why I would have seen an adult monarch floating above
the water, heading towards the harbor at Woods Hole, MA. WHERE
did this monarch come from?" she wondered.

How would
you respond to her question? Read Mrs.
Leslie's comments, then write your own letter to her in your monarch
migration journal.

Look
closely. Can you find the monarch in the picture to the right? Monarchs
leave tell-tale signs on the milkweed they eat. This "leaf damage"
gives clues about when and where monarchs have been feeding.